Excavation and Temporary Occupation Permits Procedure

Purpose statement

This procedure outlines the Excavation and Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) process and shall address public safety, traffic egress and ingress and the availability of the proposed location in conjunction with other approved Town of Oakville (town) activities or other uses of the right of way.

Scope

This procedure applies to the permitting of excavation and the temporary occupation activities within a municipal right of way or municipal parking lot under the jurisdiction of the town including utility companies that have entered into a Municipal Access Agreement (MAA).

Procedure

Permits and approval for excavations and temporary occupations within the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot shall be issued by the Engineering and Construction department and shall comply with all applicable by-laws, policy and regulations.

Requests for excavation and temporary occupation permits must be made not less than 10 business days in advance of the proposed construction/occupation date and shall include the following:

  • A signed and completed Permit Application;
  • Two copies of a detailed scalable plan on paper showing the proposed work/occupation location(s) and limits. The plan shall show all existing topographical and underground features/services, property boundary lines and shall be labelled with street names, municipal addresses and a north arrow depicting true north. The plan shall provide full engineering details with respect to the proposed work/occupation and its integration with existing features. The plans shall detail compliance with all relevant legislative, regulatory and applicable standards;
  • All applicable fees in the form acceptable to the Director of Engineering and Construction;
  • A security deposit in the form and amount acceptable to the Director of Engineering and Construction representing the potential cost to repair any and all damages associated with the permitted excavation/occupation activity;
  • A certificate of general liability insurance with coverage limits as determined by the Director of Engineering and Construction covering bodily injury and property damage, and naming the Town of Oakville as an additional insured;
  • A save harmless letter stating that the applicant agrees to indemnify fully and save harmless the Town of Oakville, its officers, agents and employees from and against any and all actions, claims, demands, damage, loss or expense whatsoever arising from or incidental to the issuing of such permission, the occupation, excavation, or construction of any part of the road hereunder or the erection, continuance, want of repair or inadequacy in any respect whatsoever of any structure of thing erected, or purported to be erected pursuant to such permission; and
  • A copy of all utility clearance certificates to which the location data (where utilities exist) will be transcribed by the applicant onto the detailed scalable plan.

Should additional approvals be required on an application, the application may be delayed.

Excavation Permit Conditions

  1. All activities must be completed within the time frame outlined on the approved permit.
  2. Required insurance policies must be effective prior to the commencement of any work within the municipal right of way and maintained until the expiry of the permit.
  3. The permit is not transferable to different parties or contractors.
  4. Permit fees are non refundable in whole or part.
  5. Work within the municipal right of way shall not begin until every public/private utility has marked (within the permitted work zone) the location of their service
  6. The permit must be available on-site and available for review at all times when work is actively underway.
  7. The Director of Engineering and Construction may impose additional conditions on the permit restricting the work as deemed necessary.
  8. The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the work complies with the permit conditions and all other applicable by-laws, regulations and legislation.
  9. The applicant will be required to submit a traffic management plan in accordance with Book 7, Temporary Conditions of the Ontario Traffic manual, and such plan shall be acceptable to the Director of Engineering and Construction.
  10. Every permit holder shall notify the Road Corridor division of the Engineering and Construction department, a minimum of 48 hours prior to commencing any permitted work.
  11. The applicant may be required to provide public notice in accordance with the town’s Notice policy or where deemed necessary by the Director of Engineering and Construction. Such compliance with the notice period may affect the planned commencement date of the permitted work however the Town will not be responsible for such delays in complying with any public notice requirement.
  12. The work site shall be kept clean and safe at all times.
  13. The applicant is required to employ dust control measures to minimize the creation and/or migration of dust emanating from the permitted work. The Director of Engineering and Construction may direct the permit holder to improve the level of dust control as deemed necessary.
  14. The permit holder and contractor shall comply with and be bound by the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, as amended.
  15. The Director of Engineering and Construction may at any time require a permit holder to provide material and compaction testing by a licensed material testing laboratory at the permit holder’s expense. Testing results shall be provided to the town directly from the testing laboratory. Any material or compaction that does not meet applicable standards shall be rectified at the permit holders expense.
  16. Video inspection of underground infrastructure within the work zone will be required when boring, jacking and/or tunnelling is employed for subsurface installations.
  17. The permit holder shall be responsible for all temporary and/or permanent reinstatement of all areas disturbed by the permitted work as detailed on the approved plans accompanying the work permit and to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering and Construction.
  18. As a minimum, the warranty period for any issued permit shall be valid for a period of 12 months beyond the date of the completion of the permanent restoration of the work area within the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot.  The Director of Engineering and Construction reserves the right to:
    1. Extend the effective permit period where the permit holder undertakes remediation work on the initial permanent restoration work due to issues of unsatisfactory performance or for any reason deemed necessary by the Director of Engineering and Construction
    2. Reduce the effective permit period where the permanent restoration works have, in the opinion of the Director of Engineering and Construction, proven to be satisfactory or where other planned or permitted works in same area will disrupt the permanent restoration works completed by the permit holder.
    3. Where the applicant is subject to the terms and conditions of a Municipal Access Agreement (MAA), extend the warranty period to be coincident with the warranty requirements specified in the MAA.
  19. Steel road plates may, with approval from the Director of Engineering and Construction, be used to temporarily bridge an open excavation and support vehicular travel for a period no greater than 24 hours. Where steel plates are used the permit holder shall satisfy the Director of Engineering and Construction, through certification by a licensed Ontario Professional Engineer, that the plates are designed and installed to support the maximum permitted highway load. Any installed plates shall be set flush with the surrounding pavement.
  20. All posted securities for the permitted works shall be retained by the town until the expiration of the permit. Requests for security reduction due to partial performance of the permanent restoration works shall not be permitted.
  21. The permit holder will be responsible for the maintenance of all temporary and permanent restoration work for the life of the issued permit. The permit holder shall maintain temporary and permanent restoration works to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering and Construction.
  22. Where the permit holder fails to comply with the conditions of the permit, the Director of Engineering and Construction shall give verbal notice to the permit holder, specifying actions to be taken, which the permit holder must perform. The verbal notice shall be confirmed in writing and served on the permit holder by registered mail to the permit holder’s address as stated in the application form or personally by hand. If the permit holder does not act within the time prescribed in the written notice, the Director of Engineering and Construction may order the work to be done at the permit holder's expense. All costs incurred by the town shall be paid by the permit holder forthwith on demand, failing which the costs shall be deducted from the security, inclusive of an administration fee of 20%.
  23. If the director is of the opinion that the work has adversely affected traffic conditions and flow, or created a situation which poses an unnecessary risk to the public, the Director of Engineering and Construction shall direct the permit holder to undertake immediate steps to improve the situation and/or remove the risk. If the Director of Engineering and Construction cannot make direct contact with the permit holder within a reasonable amount of time or if the permit holder fails to act upon the direction given by the Director of Engineering and Construction within four (4) hours, the director may order the work to be done by the town or others.  All work done by the town or others shall be at the expense of the permit holder and the costs incurred by the town, plus 20%  shall be paid by the permit holder forthwith on demand failing which the costs, plus 20%  shall be deducted from the permit deposit.

The conditions placed on the permit shall be at the discretion of the Director of Engineering and Construction.

Temporary Occupation Permit Conditions

  1. The TOP must be kept onsite at all times during the temporary occupation and shall be available for review upon request.
  2. A TOP will only be issued for the area of the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot directly abutting the applicant’s property and/or the properties where written consent of the owner has been secured.
  3. The Director of Engineering and Construction may impose additional conditions on the permit restricting the period of temporary occupation as deemed necessary.
  4. No temporary occupation shall impede the function of any drainage facility and the permit holder shall protect such facilities with appropriate protective devices as deemed necessary by the Director of Engineering and Construction.
  5. Immediately after the expiry of the time for which the permit has been issued, or after cancellation of the permit the applicant shall, at the permit holder’s expense and without notice to do so, remove from the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot all permitted things placed there under permit and shall restore the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot to a condition same or better than before the permitted occupation. In the event of the permit holder refuses, neglects or fails to do so, the Director of Engineering and Construction is hereby authorized to restore the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot as deemed necessary. All costs incurred by the Town of Oakville in performing such work shall be invoiced to the permit holder with a 20% administrative fee.

Covered Walkways

  1. Any permitted fence, hoarding or covered way shall be neatly painted a neutral colour and maintained in a sound structural condition and manner free of signs, poster or advertising material to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering and Construction
  2. Any covered way permitted for a period of 30 days or more must be constructed of wood, have its interior lit and have a sloped waterproof roof to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering and Construction.

Shoring/Piling Systems

  1. Any permit allowing for shoring and/or piling systems to remain below ground upon expiration of the TOP shall require the permit holder to:
    1. remove the upper portion of all piling and/or shoring systems from the municipal right of way to a depth of 1.2 m (4 ft) or to such depth as determined by the Director of Engineering and Construction
    2. certify the disengagement of all tieback systems from the piling and/or shoring system
    3. backfill any areas excavated in the removal of piling and/or shoring systems with non shrinkable fill material

Disposal Bins

  1. Disposal bins will not be permitted to occupy all or any part of a sidewalk, pathway, walkway or be placed in such a manner as to pose a danger to the travelling public.
  2. Permitted disposal bins must be placed in accordance with Book 7, Temporary Conditions of the Ontario Traffic Manual which may require the permit holder to erect advance warning signs, barricades and delineators as necessary to ensure the occupied area is properly isolated from the travelling public and that public travel is properly directed around the occupied area.
  3. Any permit allowing for the placement of a disposal bin shall require the permit holder to:
    1. provide a flasher barricade or other comparable flasher warning device placed at each end of the disposal bin when the bin occupies the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot for any period of time between sunset and sunrise
    2. ensure the disposal bin bears the name and telephone number of the company owning and providing the disposal bin.

Commercial Occupations

  1. Consent letters shall be obtained from land owners who directly abut the area of the municipal right of way or municipal parking lot for which the applicant is seeking a permit under this procedure.
  2. The permitted placement of merchandise, tables, chairs, barbeques, etc. outside of a business shall:
    1. not reduce any sidewalk to less than 1.5 m in width
    2. comply with all Fire department and Health department rules and regulations
    3. require the permit holder to provide butt stops and garbage containers when applicable
    4. require the permit holder to keep the occupied area clean and free of grease (or like materials) garbage, and/or debris. The permit holder shall not place any garbage and/or debris collected from the occupied area in any public garbage container
    5. restrict period of occupation as determined by the Director of Engineering and Construction, however the period shall not be outside the hours of 7:00 am to 11:00 pm.
    6. not permit the storage of any materials outside the hours prescribed in the permit
    7. require the permit holder to restore the occupied area to its former condition or better when the permit expires
    8. permit a period of occupation of up to 12 months and shall allow annual renewals
    9. restrict the area of occupation to the frontage of the permit holder’s licensed business address
    10. not authorize the loading or off loading of vehicles or materials on any portion of the municipal right of way of municipal parking lot.

Miscellaneous

  1. Permits may be issued for the following occupations provided that such occupations do not interfere, or obstruct or pose a risk to the public in any way:
    1. Painting/placing house numbers on curbs
    2. Community projects for roadside litter clean-up
    3. Environmental Improvement initiatives such as marking/painting identification markers for drains and catch basins
    4. The installation of awning overhangs within commercial districts
  2. Additional permits may be required from other town departments or public agencies.

Additional conditions may be placed on permits at the discretion of the Director of Engineering and Construction.

Responsibilities

The Road Corridor section of the department of Engineering and Construction is responsible for ensuring compliance, maintenance, interpretation of the procedure and the associated policy.

References

Municipal Rights of Way By-law
Municipal Right of Way Activity Permit By-law
Parking Lot By-law
Municipal Access Agreement
Excavation and Temporary Occupation Permit Application Form

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